Safety screen guard



April 16, 1940- c. E. TRuLocK 2,197,489

SAFETY S CREEN GUARD Filed sept. 14, 19:58 2 sheets-sheet 1 0 j INVEN-roR CARL E. TRULOCK @amg MM ATTORNEYSv April 13 1940- c. E. TRULocK 2,197,489

SAFETY SCREEN GUARD Filed sept. 14, 1958 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR CARL E. TRU L'OCK ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 16, 1940 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l2 Claims.

This invention relates to safety screen guards and has for its object certain improvements in the structure for use in asylums, hospitals, and the like.

It is now customary to use bars across windows, and even doors. 'of insane asylums, particularly in rooms set aside for violent inmates. Psychiatrists have determined that the placing of patients behind bars frequently has a bad psychological effect on them. In order to avoid this edect, it has recently been proposed to replace the bars with screens, because, when they come to such' an institution, patients are already accustomed to rooms or housesscreened to keep out flies and other insee An ordinary ily screen, however, is not sumciently safe for this purpose. It may be broken by repeated pounding or pushing. It may also be burst open when patients hurl themselves against the screen. An ordinary screen, moreover, may be cut or broken by implements often available to patients, such as cutlery 'made of metal.

As a result of my investigations Ifhave developed a screen guard that for the most part overcomes these and other difliculties. It is adapted to absorb impacts due to the type of pounding or pushing that a patient may resort to, and to minimize the danger of cutting.

My invention contemplates a. screen provided with a plurality of spaced shock-absorbers around its outer edge portion. The shock-absorbers are advantageously secured to and concealed within a frame surrounding the outer edge portion of the screen proper. In a present preferred embodiment of the invention, the frame consists of two superposed and spaced face members. These members are advantageously of unequal wdth so as to minimize the danger of cutting the screen along the free frame edge.

These and other features of the invention will be better understood by referring to the attached drawings, taken in conjunction with the following description, in which Fig. l is a front elevation of a screen guard illustrative of a practice of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a corner of the screen guard of Fig. 1, in which fragments are broken away to show a compression spring arrangement;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line arrangement in detail;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation in part of a modified safety screen guard illustrative of a practice of the invention;

of screen guards that adapt them 3-3 of Fig. 2, showing the compression spring Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4, showing a tension spring arrangement; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing a compression spring arrangement that may be imployed in another modification of the inven- Referring first to Fig. l, the guard shown comprises a screen I mounted within a frame II. The screen guard shown is rectangular in shape, and is therefore adapted to t within the frame of a conventional window, porch, or door. A plurality of-shock absorbers I2, each fastened to the screen, are spaced within and around the frame. The screen is made of suitable material, preferably metal. Special metal alloys have been developed to make screens of unusually great strength and durability. The mesh of the screen is preferably fine enough to act as a ily or insect l screen. v

As shown more particularly by Fig. 3, the frame consists of an outer casing and an inner channel. 'Ihe outer casing comprises an inside face member I3 and an outside face member I 4 spaced from one another so as to provide an inside space or longitudinal recess for the mounting of the inner channel and the shock absorbers. I'he inside and outside face members are of unequal width, the inside face being wider than the outside face, and are provided with rounded shoulder portions I and I6, as shown, the free edges of which point inwardly within the frame, at one end, and with right angle lugs I'l and I8 at the other end respectively. The shoulders are spaced apart to provide a slot or free space I9 through which the screen extends. This space is sufficiently wide to permit free movement of the screen forwardly and laterally.

As noted above, the frame also includes an inner channel 20 provided with a plurality of spaced holes 2i in the'web 22 of the channel through which the shock absorbers may operate.

' The anges23 vand 24 of the inner channel t against the inside and outside faces and against the lugs I1 and I8. The inner channel is secured to the face members by a suitable number of spaced screws 25. e

Each shock absorber I2 consists of an anchoring member 2B that extends through hole 2| in the web of the inner channel, and is provided with a'. suitable compression spring 21 mounted around its exterior. The spring is held in place at the free end of the anchoring member by abutment against a protruding washer 28 fastened by means of a head screw 29. 'I'he spring 55 rests at its other end against the inside web of the inner channel, around hole 2l. 'I'he shock absorbers are in this manner securely anchored Within the frame.

Each anchoring member is provided with a transverse slot 30, which freely accommodates a screen-holding and shock-distributing bar 3l, and two thicknesses of the screen, bent around the bar vas shown. A cotter pin 32 extends through the anchoring member, the bar, and the two thicknesses of screen. The screen is in this manner securely anchored to the shock-absorbers around the entire frame, and is thereby placed under tension. l

The inner channel and the screen-holding and shock-distributing bar advantageously extend substantially the full length, or width, of the frame. A plurality of holes 33, preferably spaced between the shock absorbers, are provided around the frame to receive screws with which to fasten the screen guard in a window, porch, or door frame. In case it is desired to have the screen guard swingable, the frame may be attached to a building by means of suitable hinges, and locks.

In the modified form of construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the screen I0 is provided with screen-holding and shock-distributing bars or beads 3| secured along its perimeter and a plurality of spaced tension springs 34 securely anchored thereto. Each spring is provided with a coil 35, a hook-end 36 to anchor aroundor into the bar,.and a free-end 31 to fit through the side of the frame. The outer casing of the frame consists `oi inside facemember i3' secured to outside face member I4' by means of bent-around side- 33. The face membersI are provided with rounded shoulders I5' and I6' respectively. In-

stead of rounding the shoulders, they may be bent back V-shaped and still provide a space for the screen and|A its free movement as the springs are operated The face members are kept in suitable spaced relationship by means of spacers 39 and retaining-,screws and 4l which may be countersunk ilush with the outside facesy of the frame. Other means may, of course, be employed to spread the face members. The springs may be spaced midwayl between the rivets.

In the structure illustrated, the outside face member I4 is provided with a bent-around side 42, the free edge of which ts tightly into,bent over portion 43 of the inside face member I3'. 'I'he bent-around side is provided with slots 44, smaller than the diameter of the coil springs, through which eye-end 31 of the springs may be inserted. Pins are adapted to be inserted into the eyes and thus lock the springs securely to the frame. Any suitable means, such as mentioned above, may be employed in conjunction with the frame to attach the screen-to a Window, porch, or door frame.

Referring to the modication of Fig. 6, the frame likewise consists of an inside face i3' and an outside face I4 of unequal widths, the former being the wider of the. two. They are provided with round shoulders I 5' and I6 respectively, and a space -I9 between the shoulders to receive the screen. This space issufllciently wide to permit free movement of the screen.

A compression spring 21' is mounted around a pin 26 fitting through a hole 2| in an inner channel 20 fitting snugly between the inside and outside faces of the frame. The pin isprovided with a hook-end 36', the other end of the pin being threaded to receive a. nut 46. lA washer 41 nts between the nut and spring. The channel functions as a spacer for the faces of the trame, and as ,a stop to lateral movement of the spring. It may be secured to the frame faces in. any suitable manner, such as with counter-sunk screw bolts, rivets, or by spot welding. Outside face I4 is provided with a bent-over end 42'. A sufiicient amount of space between the end of the pin and ,the bent-over end permits tightening of nut 40 to take up slack inthe screen. As in the above-described modification, enough space is provided within the frame to prevent free movementfoi the hook-end when the springs are called upon to function.

In the present practice of the invention of the safety screen guard oi Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the inner channel oi' the frame is made of sheet metal of not less than No. 14. gauge, and the face members of the outside casing are made of sheet metal of not less than No. 16 gauge. The shock-absorbers have a minimum capacity of 175 pounds per inch of movement, and are mounted in the frame at approximately eight-inch centers. They are made of brass pistons. Brass cotter pins are employed. 'I'he springs, screws, and washers are heavily cadmium plated to resist corrosion. The wire mesh employed for the screen is made of vspecial stainless steel alloy com.- pounded to produce high corrosion resistant wire of not less than 100,000 pounds tensile strength per square inch. The wire is woven intola mesh screen having an open area of about 43%, with double crimped crossings and a tensile strength of not less,than 700 pounds per linear inch.

It will be seen that a screen of the character described is adapted to absorb impacts due to pounding and intermittent pushing, such,as are to be expected from patients in an asylum. The numerous shock-absorbers tend eiectively to take up the shock of such impacts, and little damage can be done tothe screen proper. The screenholding and shock-distributing bar 3| tends to distribute the shock and impact forces widely over the screen, thus preventing their localization at a-single point or area. At the same time, the screen-functions to keep out insects.

If a patient should attempt to cut the screen along the frame edge, he Will find that the screen tends to .give and does not afford a tight grip conducive to cutting. In other words, the rounded shoulders l 5 and I6, and the manner in which one is offset from the other, donot afford a sharp edge along which to cut, as would be the case if the screen were conventionally gripped between two square-shouldered frame members.

Moreover, the edges of the screen guard are preferably secured within the recess between the inside and outside face members of the frame and sumciently removed from the slot or free space I9 to enable the guard screen, when under pressure in either direction, to contact with a rounded shoulder at the edge of the slot without injury to the screen.

A building .provided with screen guards of the invention does not have the appearance of the conventional jail-like institution, but instead presents to patients and public alike a normal appearance of windows, porches, and doors. Screens are customary residential equipment, and the present screen guards therefore contribute to the home-like atmosphere that hospitals strive to present. The screens appear as ordinary screens, but supply in an unobtrusive way the needed guardservice. They can be applied to any window, wood or metal, either outside or inside. Those permanently attached are secured to the building by screws or the like inaccessible to the patient. Hinged screen guards may be employed, to open in or out, that are provided with suitable locks. The present screens have a beneficial psychological effect upon patients, give Windows, doors or porches an atmosphere of home-like comfort, and remove all indication of enforced restraint.

While the screens of the invention are particularly adapted for use in insane asylums, especially for rooms for violent patients, they may, of course, be used in other places, such as prisons, reformatories, hospitals, hotels, apartment bulldings, homes, etc. These screens are not only adapted to keep people from leaving a building through a Window, porch or door, but they may, of course, also be used to prevent people from entering a building through a window, porch or door.

It will be clear to those skilled in this art that the specic embodiments of theinvention above described are only illustrative of the invention and that variations in structure are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

This application is a continuation-impart of my copending applicatio Serial No. 92,537, iled July 25, 1936.

1. A guard for windows and the like, comprising a rigid, substantially rectangular frame, a guard member of woven wire having a mesh comparable to that of fly screening stretched across said frame, said frame comprising top, bottom and side members substantially U-shaped in cross section, said U-shaped members having the legs thereof extending outwardly, anchoring members slidably extending through the bases of said U- shaped members, means for connecting the inner end of said anchoring members to the guard member, and compression springs positioned within said U-shaped members and interposed between the outer end of said anchoring members and the bases of said U-shaped members for urging said anchoring members outwardly to maintain the guard member under tension and to yieldingly resist distortion of the guard member from its normal plane.

2. A guard for windows and the like, comprising a rigid frame, said frame comprising spaced inside and outside members, with the inside member extending inwardly from the edge of the frame a greater distance than the outside member, a guard member of woven wire having a mesh comparable to that of fly screening stretched across said frame and having its edges received between said inside and outside members, and spring means located between said inside and outside members Vand yieldingly securing the guard member to the frame.

3. A guard for windows and the like, comprisinga rigid frame, said yframe comprising spaced inside and outside members, with the inside member extending inwardly from the edge of the frame a greater distance than the outside member, a guard member of woven wire having a mesh comparable to that of y screening stretched across said frame and having its edges received between said inside and outside members, transverse members extending between said inside and outside frame members, spring means located between said spaced frame members and yieldingly securing the guard member to saidy transversely extending members.

A guard for windows and the like, comprising a rigid frame, said frame comprising spaced inside and outside members, with the inside niember extending inwardly from the edge of the frame a greater distance than the outside member, a guard member of woven wire having a mesh comparable -to that of y screening stretched across said frame and having its edges received between said inside and outside members, transverse members extending between said inside and outside frame members, anchoring members slidably extending through said transverselyextending members, means for connecting the-inner ends of said anchoring members to the guard member, and compression springs positioned between said spaced inside and outside members and interposed between the outer ends of said anchoring members and the transversely extending members for urging said anchoring members outwardly to maintain the guard member under tension, and to yieldingly resist distortion of the guard member from its normal plane.

5. A guard for windows and the like, comprising a rigid frame having spaced inner and outer side members, transverse members extending between said inner and outer side members, a guard member' of woven wire stretched across said frame and having its side edges received between the inner and outer side members of the frame, rigid members secured to the side edges of said guard member throughout the greater portion .of the lengths of said edges, anchoring members slidablyextending through said transverse members, means for connecting said anchoring members to said rigid members, and springs. acting upon said anchoring means for maintaining said guard member under tension.

6. In a device of the character described, the

improvement comprising a frame, a screen, and a plurality of shock absorbers connecting the perimeter of the screen with the frame, said frame consisting of an outer casing with an inside face and an outside face spaced apart by means of a spacing member attached to the outer casing,

ing a rigid rectangular frame with an inner and outer wall spaced apart to provide a recess, a guard member of woven shock-absorbing and distributing wire having a mesh comparable to that of y screen streched across the frame, the

perimeter of the screen being located within said recess, said frame being provided across its interior with spacing and supporting members, a

plurality of spaced anchoring members slidably extending through said spacing and supporting members, means for connecting the inner end of each anchoring member to the guard screen, and a compression spring interposed'between the outer end of each anchoring member and said spacing and supporting members for urging said anchoring members outwardly to maintain the guard screen under tension.

8. A detention guard for the windows and doors of insane asylums and the like, comprising a rigid frame, each side of which includes spaced inner and outer face members and a transverse spacing and connecting member positioned between said inner and outer face members, a guard screen of woven wire stretched across said frame and having its side edges received between the inner and outer face members of the frame, rigid shockdistributing members secured to side edges of the guard screen, said shock-distributing members extending throughout the greater portion of the lengths of said side edges of the guard screen, and a plurality of spaced anchoring means connecting each rigid, shock-distributing member along the sides of the guard screen to the corresponding side of the frame,said anchoring means including spring means for maintaining said guard screen under tension, whereby an impact force at any place on the screen due to pounding, pushing, striking and the like, such as are expected from mentally deranged patients, is distributed widely over the entire screen to substantially all of said spring means, thereby preventing localization of the impact forces at a single point or area.

9. In a detention guard of the character described for the windows and doors of insane asylums and the like, the improvement comprising a screen, a frame, and a plurality of shock absorbers, the screen being provided along its perimeter with screen-holding and shock-distributing members, the frame comprising inner and outer casing members forming a slot and recess to receive and surround the perimeter of the screen and the shock-absorbers, the inner portion of the outer casing member forming a smooth bearing surface against which the screen is adapted to bear without injury to the. screen, the shock absorbers being disposed in spaced relationship around and mounted between the perimeter of the screen and the frame, whereby impact forces due to pounding, pushing, striking and the like, such as are to be expected from mentally deranged patients, are distributed widely over the entire screen to substantially all of the shock rection generally parallel to the plane of the, guard screen and cooperating with the screen .to

yieldingly maintain it in a taut condition, said guard screen being adapted to withstand impact forces due to pounding, pushing, striking and the like, such as'are to be expected from mentally deranged patients, without injury to the guard screen by any portion of said frame.

11. A detention guard for the windows and doors of insane asylums and the like, comprising a substantially rectangular frame having inside and outside members shaped to provide a recess longitudinally thereof, the inner edges of said members being disposed in spaced relation with respect to one another and forming a longitudinal slot opening into said recess, the inner edge of at least one of said members forming ,means having a rounded surface against which the guard screen is adapted to bear without injury thereto, a shock-absorbing and distributing guard screen stretched across said frame with the top, bottom and side edges thereof disposed within said slot and recess, rigid screen-holding and shock-distributing members secured to the top, bottom and side edges of said screen guard, and a plurality of shock-absorbing and distributing spring means cooperating with each of said rigid members and yieldably securing the edges of the guard screen in said frame at a point within said recess and suiiciently removed from the adjacent edge of said slot to enable the screen when under pressure, and if` occasion requires, to contact said rounded surface at the edge of said slot without injury to the guard screen, whereby impact forces due to pounding, pushing, striking and the like, such as are to be expected from. mentally deranged patients, are distributed widely over the entire screen to substantially all of said spring means thus preventing localization of the impact forces at a single point or area.

12. A detention guard for the Windows and doors of insane asylums andthe like, comprising a substantially rectangular frame having inside and outside members shaped to provide a recess longitudinally thereof, the inner edges of said members being disposed in spaced relation with respect to one another to form a longitudinal slot opening into said recess, the inner edges of each of said members forming means having a rounded surface against which the guard screen is adapted to bear without injury thereto, a shock-absorbing and distributing guard screen of woven wire having a mesh comparable to that of fly screen stretched across said frame with the top, bottom and side edges thereof disposed within said slot and recess, rigid screen-holding and shock-distributing members secured to and extending throughout substantially the length of the top, bottom and side edges of said screen guard, and a plurality of shock-absorbing and distributing spring means cooperating with said rigid members and yieldably securing the edges of the guard screen in said recess at a point suiciently removed from said slot to enable the guard screen when under pressure, and if occasion requires, in either direction to contact with a rounded sur- 4face at the edge of said slot without injury to the same, whereby impact forces due to pounding, pushing, striking and the like, such as are to be expected from mentally deranged patients, are distributed widely over the entire screen to substantially all of said spring means thus preventing localization of the impact forces at a single point or area.

CARL `E. TRULOCK. 

